The Fall (Love Awakens part 1)
by A Romantic Enquiry
Summary: Adventurous young Esme Platt takes a tumble from a tree in her parents' backyard, an experience that not only breaks her leg but heavily influences her journey into young womanhood-partly thanks to the enigmatic, handsome doctor who treats her. (Part 1 of my Carlisle/Esme series: Love Awakens.)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** Thank you for visiting my story! Not only do I want to share my writing with others, but I greatly appreciate any time you take to leave comments or reviews. This project of writing a series about Carlisle & Esme Cullen is not only because I love them as characters, but I am constantly striving to improve as a writer.

**Part 1:** The Fall

**~Chapter One~**

Esme pulled herself up with a forceful heave. Getting her feet up onto the first branch was always the hardest, but it was well worth the effort once she got to her favorite spot half-way up the ancient maple. It was slightly more of a challenge since it had rained earlier in the day and the branches were slippery, but no mind; she had climbed this tree more times than she could count. After she had her footing, she made her way up quickly, the late summer breeze dragging loose strands of her caramel colored hair across her face. Irritated, she balanced herself in her spot and brushed the hair away from her eyes. Shifting her weight until she was comfortably settled, she breathed in the warm evening air deeply, letting it out in a long slow sigh.

She relished these moments of isolation, of listening to sounds of nature around her, having escaped the house after dinner and her chores. As much as she loved her family, it was a relief to be alone with her thoughts, without having to please anyone. Surely her parents would disapprove of her climbing trees, especially at her age. At sixteen, she was expected to act like a lady, but there was some adventure left in her still, and she intended to enjoy it.

Letting all her thoughts go, she gazed out through the leaves at the changing dusk, watching the colors of the sky go from blues to golds as the sun dipped all too quickly toward the distant hills. This was her favorite part of the day. The summer was fading quickly and soon there would be no more evenings like this one for months. However, school would resume shortly and she wouldn't feel so idle, so restless in the evenings with lessons to work on.

The colors of night began to settle in as the gold bled into red, then purple and she knew it was time to make her way back home before someone came looking for her and scolding her for being out. She began to slide back down the tree. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of something, of someone standing across the field, looking at her as she climbed down. For some reason, it startled her—perhaps because she hadn't realized that anyone was there—and her foot slipped. Instantly, her other limbs reacted to regain her balance, but it was too late. She fell quickly, almost before she had time to realize what was happening. Panic didn't truly register until she hit the rough ground with a thud and a crack. All the air was forced from her lungs with a sound of shock and helplessness. The sound made her stomach turn, just before the pain set in.

She pushed herself up on her arms until she was sitting, looking down at the length of her body. Her left leg was tangled in an awkward position beneath her. Taking a few deep breaths to try and right herself, she brushed her hair out of her eyes before pulling her skirt up to her knee and pulling her stocking down. Broken, most likely, she sighed as she realized that she couldn't move her leg, but the skin was intact. That was good.

Esme sat for a few long moments, looking around, trying to see if whoever it was that had been watching her was still there, but she saw no one in the fading light, just the vast open field. The house was well out of sight and it may be some time before anyone came to look for her. She decided that the best thing to do was to try to move, to get back home somehow. Maybe her leg wasn't really broken, just hurt. Perhaps if she could just get up, she thought, licking her lips and concentrating on pushing herself up onto her feet. She tried to use the tree trunk as leverage, but it was to no avail, her leg was surely broken and she could put no weight on it. Finally giving up, she leaned against the tree and let the pain wash back in. It really hurt, it was worse than any pain that she had ever felt, but she was determined not to cry.

She began to get angry at herself as she sat there helpless. Apparently, her own imagination had startled her because there was no way a person could just disappear in the vast field like that in the few seconds that it had taken her to fall. The dread of what her parents would think started to set in as her eyes scanned the landscape in hopes of spying help. She willed that someone would come to look for her soon because, despite the season, a chill began to settle in the air.

Time seemed to drag on regardless of the swift descent into the night. Her nerves became increasingly on edge as she sat there, fighting the pain, the chills racing up over her skin. The damage was worse than she had realized at first as bruises began to bloom over her legs and arms. Her nails where broken, her hands and arms scratched and bloody.

Finally, she heard someone calling her name and she yelled back.

"I'm here!" she cried with all the force she could muster. Her voice sounded so quiet and weak even to herself.

Within moments, her cousin had flown to her side. She didn't realize that her aunt, uncle, and cousin were supposed to be visiting this afternoon and was surprised then that no one had some looking for her sooner.

"Esme! Oh my goodness! What happened to you? Are you alright?" her cousin fussed, standing over her.

"I fell out of the tree," she replied with a defeated sigh. "I can't walk."

"Oh dear Lord, Esme Anne Platt!" the other girl fretted as she attempted to help her cousin to her feet. "Your mother is in a state! Imagine what she will think when she sees you!"

"I think my leg is broken," Esme complained as the world danced before her eyes while her cousin pulled on her.

"Let me go get your father. Stay here and don't move."

It seemed like an eternity before her father arrived with her cousin to carry her back to the house. He didn't scold her nearly as much as she imagined he would, though he looked at her with deep disapproval as she told him what had happened, minus the part about thinking someone was watching her. She didn't want him to think that she was childish and afraid.

Once he had her back inside, he checked her leg and confirmed her fear that it was probably broken. Everything was a blur of pain, light, and noise as everyone fussed around her. Her mother was on the verge of hysterics because she was well aware that the doctor was away and there was no way of knowing when he would return. Setting her leg could not wait; it would have to be done tonight.

"We will have to take her to the hospital in Columbus," her father said.

"Oh, I wish that the doctor was not away," her mother interjected, "it will take so long to get to Columbus!"

"You can take my motor car," her uncle said her father. "It will be faster."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:** Thank you for visiting my story! Not only do I want to share my writing with others, but I greatly appreciate any time you take to leave comments or reviews. This project of writing a series about Carlisle & Esme Cullen is not only because I love them as characters, but I am constantly striving to improve as a writer.

**Part 1:** The Fall

**~Chapter Two~**

Before long, Esme found herself tucked in the seat of her uncle's motor carriage, with blankets wrapped around her, her father in the driver's seat beside her. The drive to Columbus was longer than she remembered, and each bump in the road brought a new wave of pain and nausea. Her father barely spoke to her on the way there, only looked at her now and then. She was feeling on the verge of faint by the time he finally carried her into the hospital.

It a was bright and bustling world of stark white here. Esme had never been to the hospital before, and in spite of the pain, she looked around with curious wonder at the plain square rooms, the curtained beds, the nurses and doctors all dressed in white hurrying back and forth. She was taken to a cold, flat bed in a room small room to wait for the doctor as her father checked her in. A thin white curtain blocked her view of the new world around her, but its sounds still floated in. The noises of the sick made her heart feel heavy within her chest. Though the sounds were muffled by movement and her own wobbly senses, she could hear people coughing, moaning, crying even. It made her feel rather guilty suddenly that she had been foolish enough to get herself into such a state that caused need to be here with all these people who were truly helpless victims of their suffering.

She could hear someone talking from just beyond the curtain. Knowing it was rude to eavesdrop, especially when it came to something as personal as someone else's health, Esme tried not to listen, but something about the voice captivated her.

"Yes, Mrs. Johnson, I'm sure he will be just fine. He is strong and the medicine will fight the infection. Just be sure that he gets plenty of rest and liquids."

"Thank you so much, Dr. Cullen. We owe you so much. My son wouldn't even be alive without you."

There was a short pause in the conversation before the reply came. "If you need anything else, bring him back to see us. We'll get him well."

The woman thanked him again before the curtain opened abruptly, startling Esme though she knew very well that the doctor was probably going to see her next since he was standing right outside.

"Esme," he said her name cheerfully and carefully as she looked up at him with surprise. Dr. Abrams still called her "Miss Platt." "I'm Dr. Cullen. It appears that you've had something of an accident. What happened?" He asked, the smile fading from his lips.

For a moment, she couldn't answer him. She sat there staring at him, still wide-eyed. He was unlike any other human being she had ever seen. He was ethereally beautiful, with flawless ivory skin and blond hair, his perfectly symmetrical features almost delicate but not unmasculine somehow. She was almost jealous that a man was prettier than she. But his unnatural beauty was not distancing, there was immediately something alluring and inviting about him, something mysterious, some perfection that was almost beyond human.

She noticed that his name was carefully stitched in curving blue letters on his white coat. It read: Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Carlisle was not a name that she heard often. He was probably from somewhere far away. Esme thought she detected a hint of an accent or perhaps more accurately lack of an accent, a local one anyway. He sounded worldly and sophisticated despite his youthful appearance.

"Esme, can you hear me?" he asked, a looked of concern wrinkling his forehead.

"Yes," she replied quickly.

"Good," he said, sitting on the side of her bed casually and resting the chart on his leg. "I thought perhaps you'd bumped your head. Did you? Tell me where the pain is." He was staring at her intently as he spoke.

"No, sir, I didn't hit my head," she started, staring into his eyes. They were a color she had never seen before-golden like the sky had been just before sunset. "I fell out of a tree," she continued, looking away from him as she spoke, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks. It seemed so immature to say out loud, especially in front of such a handsome man who couldn't be all that much older than herself by the looks of him. She felt like such a girl suddenly under his scrutinizing gaze. "My left leg hurts."

Actually, she hurt almost all over and now she felt slightly feverish and shaky, but she didn't tell him that.

"Let's have a look," he said walking over to the other side of her. He gently pulled the edge of her skirt up to her knee, the stocking was still bunched around her ankle from where she had tugged it down earlier—it hurt too much to pull it back up. She shifted on the bed with nerves, trembling.

He started at her knee, pressing his fingers on her calf firmly. His hands where ice cold and strong, but gentle. A sudden rush of wavering warmth pulsed from her heart through her body. It was a rather foreign experience that left her unsettled in how undeniably nice it felt. However, her comfort was disrupted suddenly as she shuttered with pain and made a noise of complaint.

"There?" he asked, his fingers poised lightly still on her skin.

"Yes," she winced.

"I'm afraid it is broken," he said with slight dismay, his fingers still tracing down her leg. "But that seems to be the only place, which is good."

Esme nodded in agreement. He continued to talk to her between listening to her breath and checking her vision, and she reluctantly showed him the other bruises and bumps. She found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on the requests that he was making of her because she became easily lost in watching him. Regardless of her general discomfort and the undercurrent of nerves that she felt, there was something inexplicably reassuring about him. She'd much rather be the one asking him questions than answering his about her silly accident.

"Okay, Esme, it looks like you are going to be just fine. You stay right here for a moment and I will get you some medicine for the pain and be back to set the bone." He smiled as if this was good news, but she was sure he was only doing that to comfort her.

She attempted to smile back, but she knew it only looked as half-hearted as it felt. After he left, she slumped back down on the bed with a sigh of mixed emotions. A few moments later a nurse came back with two small white tablets and a glass of water for her. She swallowed them quickly, drinking all of the water, not realizing how thirsty she had been.

The wait seemed so long, filled with anticipation and dread, as she tried not to think about what was to come. If she could have gotten up and paced, she would have—being confined to the bed made it worse. She just wished he would hurry back and get it over with, calm her down with his soothing presence. Though she tried to avoid it, her mind was filled with images of pain and blood and dread at realizing that it was going to be long healing process, which meant she would likely be confined to the house for however long it took broken legs to heal. She would make it a point to ask Dr. Cullen how long that would be when he came back.

It was difficult to assess what made her want to ask him a string of questions. He was just rather fascinating somehow compared to all of the other people that she had met. There was something hopeful and driven in his manner. His very presence seemed to exude a sense of endurance and strength, as if somehow everything, not just her leg, but _everything_ would be okay. It made her want to smile despite her current situation. He was definitely suited for his profession.

Her thoughts were interrupted by his return, and this time two nurses were with him, one carrying a large bowl and another with an armful of fresh linen strips. They smiled at her sympathetically as they arranged the things on a table beside the bed. One of the nurses removed her shoe and stocking before coming to stand by her side.

"Alright, Esme," Dr. Cullen said, turning all his attention to her once again. She felt rather elevated when he said her name though his tone was quite serious. "I'm going to set the bone," he took her leg in his hands gently and moved it slightly on the bed so that it was as straight as possible. "This is going to hurt, but it will be over very quickly. I need you to hold very still for me for just a minute, okay?"

She nodded, trying not to look as faint as she felt. He nodded back at her before looking up at one of the nurses quickly.

"Here, you can hold my hand, honey," the woman said. The woman was middle-aged, rounded, motherly looking; she smiled down at Esme lovingly as the girl took her hand. "Just look at me," the nurse continued. "Tell me Esme, do you have any brothers or sisters? You will have to make them help you while you get well. They will have to do all your chores for you."

She knew the nurse just trying to distract her, but as soon as Dr. Cullen took a firmer grasp on her leg, holding it just above and below the break, her eyes shot down at him. He snapped the bone back in place with one swift movement. It made a cracking sound that echoed the noise of it being broken. The pain was nauseating and Esme cried out sharply before biting her lip to silence herself. It had hurt worse than breaking it. Of course, breaking it had been a surprise; she had been expecting this, which somehow made it worse. The room swayed before her eyes and everything faded, as if the lights had gone dim for a moment.

"I'm sorry. I know that hurts," Dr. Cullen was saying, his hands still around her leg as the nurse squeezed her hand slightly. "Are you okay, Esme?"

She swallowed hard and nodded, her vision straightening out slowly as she blinked through tears so that she could see in focus again.

"The worst part is over," he was explaining. "It's all downhill from here."

He had already set to dipping the long cloths in the bowl, covering them with a white, powdery looking liquid and wrapping them around her leg. It was cold and wet and slightly uncomfortable.

Even though he was busy, he always looked right into her eyes when he spoke to her. "You may experience some pain and discomfort as it heals. I'll send some pain reliever home with you. You'll need to stay out of trees for the next several months as it heals."

"How long will it take?" she asked him weakly.

"It depends," he continued. "It will probably be three to six months before it will be ready to walk on normally. It can take some time for a break to completely heal…"

"But what about school?" she interrupted. "How am I supposed to go to school like this?"

He smiled warmly up at her. "I'm sure something can be arranged so that you don't get behind. You're a good student no doubt. You'll have plenty of time to stay caught up because the first several weeks will be spent mostly in bed until the cast comes off. Make sure you have it checked by your doctor regularly and he will know when it's ready to be removed."

Esme almost felt like pouting, but that would have been extremely immature. She would rather he said that she had to come back here so he could take care of it himself. He was so gentle and caring. He didn't seem in a hurry at all like Dr. Abrams often did. Dr. Cullen made it seem as if she was the most important thing in all the world—as if everything else could wait until she was taken care of.

He talked to her as he worked on completing the cast that would cover her leg all the way to the knee, asking her about herself and her family and how exactly she had managed to fall out of a tree in the first place. Again, she left out the detail about what had startled her, but she suddenly felt less embarrassed and more at ease about the whole ordeal as he complimented on how beautiful the view of the horizon at dusk must have been from the high branches of the maple, as if he really understood her intent and purpose for being up there at all. He didn't scold her for her adventures or tell her she shouldn't climb trees as everyone else had thus far. Though she was still in pain, she found herself smiling and even laughing a few times at their easy conversation.

Though finishing the cast was a slightly long process, it seemed to be over far too quickly. Before she knew it, the nurses were taking the leftover materials away and he was telling her that she could go home now.

"Thank you," Esme said gently, looking up at him. "You are a very good doctor." She knew that she was just talking to stall him, just so she could look at him for a few more moments before he disappeared to give his attention to someone else.

He laughed softly, but it wasn't patronizing as it might have been, he almost looked flattered by her compliment. "Well, you are a very good patient. You take care of yourself, Esme," he stated smoothly, plucking a lingering maple leaf from her hair and throwing it away. "No more accidents, okay?"

"I promise," she replied. Then, he was gone.

A few minutes later the nurse came back and helped her down into a wheelchair before took her out to the lobby where her father waited to take her home. She was very pleased to see that Dr. Cullen was talking to him.

"We see it every day," she heard Dr. Cullen saying to her father. "She's very lucky that it isn't any worse. She must have had a pretty nasty fall to break her leg like that."

Her father was shaking hands with the doctor. It made Esme wish that she could do the same, to feel his gentle, smooth fingers on her skin one more time before she left. She must have been staring at him because he was smiling at her again.

"Goodbye, Esme," he said with a quick wink as her father started pushing her out toward the car.

She waved reluctantly at him, but he had already turned around and started back down the hallway. Her heart sank at the thought that he had not received her farewell.


	3. Epilogue

**Author's note:** Thank you for visiting my story! Not only do I want to share my writing with others, but I greatly appreciate any time you take to leave comments or reviews. This project of writing a series about Carlisle & Esme Cullen is not only because I love them as characters, but I am constantly striving to improve as a writer.

**Part 1:** The Fall

**~ Epilogue ~**

Esme sat on her bed, gazing out the window, the book of poetry lay forgotten on her lap. It had been eight months since she had broken her leg, the cast had been removed by Dr. Abrams and she was mostly back to her old self, though her desire to climb trees had significantly waned. She found herself often wandering on some peripheral of thought, staring listlessly out into the distance, filled with some great sense of indefinable longing. Today that feeling had all but overwhelmed her. It seemed to her that some sweeping change had come in these past few months, a mature and retrospective sense of some lost youthful hope, even as young as she was still. She wasn't depressed or unhappy really, just lonely. There was some tug at the edge of her heart that seemed to speak to her, as if it came from some place completely separate from herself.

Being in love with the very idea of love haunted her. She had never before truly known what it is that she was looking for beyond a happy life—she dreamed, as many young girls do, of growing up into a loving wife and mother. The thought of what kind of person she wanted to share that life with had never wholly entered her mind until recently. The idea of some unreal shadow of a man in her dreams who she would call her husband was no longer there. Instead, she had a much clearer, though foolishly framed, idea of it.

In many of her most introspective moments, while struggling with herself over who exactly she was and who she was meant to become, her mind strayed out of range of her discipline to fall on the night she had broken her leg and the mesmeric Dr. Cullen. She had come to see him in everything—his eyes were in the summer sun and the golden wheat at harvest and glittering adornments of the holidays. There was some magnetic sense of hope pulling her toward the future, even if she knew that she would most likely never see him again. Just knowing that he existed, to think of him being somewhere, healing others, perhaps carrying some vague memory of her, created a sense of contentment within her.

It was not an uncommon accident of youth, breaking a limb, but somehow she could not separate that event from some change in her that seemed much greater and more lasting. The leg had healed, returned to as it had been before like nothing at all had happened, but some other part of her that was less easy to define remained altered with no signs of being reverted to its former state.


End file.
